Animal Ag Bites 5/28

Carrie Muehling

  • USPOULTRY’s 2019 Hatchery-Breeder Clinic will offer a look at industry updates, best practices, biosecurity challenges and other topics related to chick quality. The annual Clinic, sponsored by USPOULTRY, will be held July 9 – 10, at the Sheraton Grand Nashville Downtown in Nashville, Tennessee.
  • The National Pork Producers Council is among agriculture groups applauding the Trump administration’s trade relief package in response to the U.S. trade dispute with China. USDA’s trade retaliation relief program includes direct payments to qualifying pork producers, pork surplus purchases for the benefit of low-income families and others in need, and additional funding to develop new export opportunities.
  • Testifying on behalf of the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, Kansas cattle producer Debbie Lyons-Blythe delivered a clear message at a U.S. Senate Agriculture Committee hearing on climate change. Lyons-Blythe, who helps run Blythe Family Farms in the Flint Hills of Kansas, also pushed back against claims that beef cattle production in the United States is responsible for a disproportionate or even significant percentage of greenhouse gas emissions.
  • In the first half of 2019, Alltech has welcomed several new senior leaders. The four executives come from varied backgrounds but have extensive experience working within the international agriculture industry. Brian McCawley is the senior vice president of sales at Alltech, with a focus on the company’s North America additive business. Mike Osborne, the founder and former president of Nutra Blend, has joined Alltech as key account advisor for North America. Christopher Speight is Alltech’s chief financial officer of the Americas. Jonathan Forrest Wilson is Alltech’s president of Greater China, a role most recently held by Dr. Mark Lyons, now president and CEO of Alltech.
AgWired Animal, Animal Bites

Trump Welcomes Farmers to White House

Cindy Zimmerman

President Donald Trump welcomed representatives from a number of agricultural organizations to the White House Thursday to talk about the $16 billion in trade assistance announced by the administration.

“I have directed Secretary Perdue to provide $16 billion in assistance to America’s farmers and ranchers. It all comes from China. We’ll be taking in, over a period of time, hundreds of billions of dollars in tariffs and charges to China. And our farmers will be greatly helped. We want to get them back to the point where they would have had if they had a good year.”

Listen to President Trump’s remarks here:
President Trump announces trade aid for farmers

AgWired Animal, AgWired Precision, Audio, Trade

ZimmCast 616 – Voices from Alltech #ONE19

Chuck Zimmerman

I attended my first Alltech Ideas Conference back in 2007. Things have changed. In fact, Alltech embraces change and this year’s conference showcased that in a lot of ways.

So, I’m going to share a few interviews from the conference that I hope you’ll enjoy. First up will be Amanda Radke, BEEF daily blogger, BEEF Magazine. Amanda was an early intern for us who wrote for AgWired when she was in her final year at South Dakota State University. I’m proud of the career she is having and to have been a part of it in our little way.

Next up you’ll hear Dr. Frank Mitloehner, Professor and Air Quality Extension Specialist, Department of Animal Science, University of California, Davis. He spoke about “Beef’s Carbon Footprint: Setting the Record Straight.” And he certainly does that. I hope you’ll follow him on Twitter. We need more like him.

Then you can hear my Farm Babe 2.0 interview. I spoke with Michelle Miller last year at the conference and we did it again this year at the end of the conference. If you’re not following The Farm Babe then get started.

I hope you enjoy it and thank you for listening.

Listen to the ZimmCast here: ZimmCast - Voices from Alltech #ONE19

Alltech, Animal Agriculture, Audio, ZimmCast

Zimfo Bytes 5/24

Carrie Muehling

  • The Agricultural Business Council of Kansas City honored two of the region’s leading agricultural figures on May 16 at a luncheon in the Chamber Board Room in Kansas City’s historic Union Station. The honorees – Lee Borck, chairman of Innovative Livestock Services and Beef Marketing Group Cooperative and farm broadcasting legend Gene Millard of Millard Family Farms – received the Jay B. Dillingham Award for Agricultural Leadership and Excellence, the Council’s highest recognition. Both men have each left their marks on the ag industry over careers extending nearly 50 years.
  • The Biotechnology Innovation Organization announced that former U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary and former two-term Governor of Iowa Tom Vilsack will receive the 12th annual George Washington Carver Award for Innovation in Industrial Biotechnology.
  • IDEAg Group LLC announces its second annual National Anthem Contest for this year’s Minnesota Farmfest. Farmfest will take place Aug. 6-8 in Redwood County, Minnesota; the deadline to apply for the contest is July 5. Interested singers can visit the Farmfest website to apply.
  • IDEAg Group LLC announces that the Dakotafest farm show will return to Mitchell, South Dakota, Aug. 20-22. The event will feature approximately 500 companies showcasing the latest innovations available to farmers in the Midwest.
  • The Association of Equipment Manufacturers has elected Brett Davis, Brand Leader, New Holland North America of CNH Industrial LLC, to the AEM Ag Sector Board.
  • Farm Credit has partnered with AgriSafe Network to support its Total Farmer Health campaign. The program will educate rural health professionals on the mental health risks faced by farmers and ranchers and trains them to integrate basic mental health screenings into their primary care practices.
  • Members of American Agri-Women from across the nation will gather in Washington, D.C., June 9-12 for the organization’s annual Fly-In. Members will present white papers on land use & policy — a special theme for this year — as well as legislative positions statements to elected officials and policymakers.
  • The National Cotton Council has scheduled tour dates and locations for the 2019 Producer Information Exchange (P.I.E.) Program. This season, two of the three P.I.E. tours will occur simultaneously. During the week of July 28-August 2, producers from the Southeast will see Mid-South farming operations in the Missouri Bootheel, West Tennessee and northeast Arkansas while Southwest producers will tour California’s San Joaquin Valley. The third tour, set for August 11-16, will enable Mid-South and Far West producers to travel to the Southeast and observe farming operations in North Carolina and Virginia.
  • Members of the California Women for Agriculture walked the halls of California’s state capitol earlier this month to discuss current agriculture policies with legislative representatives. As part of the organization’s annual statewide meeting in Sacramento, the CWA also honored Assembly Member Susan Talamantes Eggman with its Cornucopia Award, celebrating her commitment to support California agriculture.
  • S&W Seed Company and Corteva Agriscience™, Agriculture Division of DowDuPont, announced they have entered into a new mutually beneficial alfalfa agreement that terminates and replaces the December 2014 agreements between S&W and Pioneer Hi-Bred International, Inc. As part of the new agreement, S&W will receive $45 million in cash at closing plus $25 million in payments over regularly scheduled dates concluding in February 2021.
  • The International Agri-Center® and World Ag Expo® and the Central Valley Toyota Dealers presented a check in the amount of $87,000 to Valley Children’s Healthcare during the All Guild Picnic on the hospital grounds on May 22, in Madera, California.
  • Out of more than 50,000 total entries submitted in the 40th edition of The Telly Awards, with many coming from the world’s biggest and best-known brands, nine resulted in wins for Lessing-Flynn and six of its client-partners, including four silver awards and five bronze awards for marketing and branding videos produced in 2018.
Zimfo Bytes

Alltech Working Together for a Planet of Plenty™

Cindy Zimmerman

ONE: The Alltech Ideas Conference wrapped up Tuesday with president and CEO Dr. Mark Lyons sharing his new vision for the company and inviting more than 3,500 attendees to join in “Working Together for a Planet of Plenty™.”

Thirty years ago, his father, Alltech’s founder Dr. Pearse Lyons, took the stage at the same conference. He had committed Alltech to a guiding ACE principle, emphasizing the importance of delivering benefit to animals, consumers and the environment. He fervently believed that the well-being of each depended on maintaining harmony between all three. It was a radical idea at the time — so radical, that some customers walked out of the conference.

Yet, against a backdrop of diminishing natural resources, a changing climate and a growing population, sustainability is quickly becoming a non-negotiable for businesses and for agriculture. Every business and individual has a role to play, moving us closer to a planet of peril or of plenty.

“With the adoption of new technologies and management practices, and, most of all, human ingenuity, we believe a Planet of Plenty is possible,” said Lyons. “Our Planet of Plenty vision propels our founding ACE principle into a new world of possibility, where anyone and everyone can make a positive impact on our shared planet.”

A new website has been launched for the initiative. PlanetofPlenty.com provides examples of agricultural methods that can improve the environment as well as inspiring stories of the people and technologies making a planet of plenty possible. Stories can be shared on the Planet of Plenty website or on social media with the hashtag #PlanetofPlenty.

Listen to Dr. Lyons’ closing remarks.
Alltech ONE19 Dr. Mark Lyons closing remarks

2019 Alltech Ideas Conference Photo Album

Find more content from ONE19 on the conference virtual newsroom on AgNewsWire.

AgWired Animal, AgWired Precision, Alltech, Audio

USDA Announces More Trade Aid for Farmers

Cindy Zimmerman

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue today announced several actions that USDA will be taking to assist farmers in response to trade damage from unjustified retaliation and trade disruption.

President Trump directed Secretary Perdue to craft a relief strategy to support American agricultural producers while the Administration continues to work on free, fair, and reciprocal trade deals to open more markets in the long run to help American farmers compete globally. Specifically, the President has authorized USDA to provide up to $16 billion in programs, which is in line with the estimated impacts of unjustified retaliatory tariffs on U.S. agricultural goods and other trade disruptions. These programs will assist agricultural producers while President Trump works to address long-standing market access barriers.

Details of the aid package were announced in a press call with USDA officials, including:

• U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue
• USDA’s Chief Economist, Dr. Rob Johannson
• Undersecretary for Farm Production and Conservation, Bill Northey
• Undersecretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programs, Greg Ibach
• Undersecretary for Trade and Foreign Agricultural Affairs, Ted McKinney
• Acting Deputy Under Secretary for Food, Nutrition, and Consumer Services, Brandon Lipps
• USDA’s Trade Counsel Jason Hafemeister

Listen or download here:
USDA Announces Trade Aid Package

AgWired Animal, AgWired Precision, Audio, Trade, USDA

GROWMARK Serves Energy Customers in Various Ways

Carrie Muehling

GROWMARK continues to serve customers in the energy sector, not just in the Midwest but across much of the United States.

The agricultural cooperative markets 2.2 billion gallons on energy products throughout the territory it serves, including gasoline fuel, propane and lubricants. This presence includes 140 different fuel terminals and 235 retail stations. GROWMARK is also the fourth largest propane retailer in the United States, according to Scott Long, manager, marketing and business development at GROWMARK. He said the cooperative puts the customer first.

“We try to listen to what they’re trying to accomplish and then find a package, whether that’s gasoline, diesel fuel, we’ve done some solar projects,” said Long. “We deal quite a bit with the additive business, trying to make sure that the fuel that they’re purchasing stays like it was originally intended to go through today’s equipment.”

Logistics are a continual concern as there are not always enough truck drivers to move products, especially during the busiest times. Very wet conditions have slowed fieldwork considerably during the 2019 planting season, but Long predicts an extremely busy season for energy as farmers get back into the fields.

Listen to Carrie’s interview here: Interview with Scott Long, GROWMARK

Audio, Cooperatives, Energy, GROWMARK

FCA Board Chairman Dallas Tonsager Dies

Cindy Zimmerman

Farm Credit Administration board chairman and former USDA under secretary Dallas Tonsager died Tuesday of lymphoma in Falls Church, Virginia. He was 64.

Tonsager was appointed to the FCA board by President Barack Obama in 2015 and was designated chairman and CEO in 2016. Prior to that, he served as under secretary for rural development at the U.S. Department of Agriculture from 2009 to 2013. Tonsager grew up on a dairy farm near Oldham, South Dakota and was a graduate of South Dakota State University where he earned a Bachelor of Science in agriculture in 1976.

FCA Board Member Jeff Hall has been designated acting CEO. “Dallas dedicated his life to helping farmers, ranchers, and other rural Americans,” said Hall. “Both at USDA and FCA, he worked hard to promote investments in rural communities. As chairman of FCA, he urged the Farm Credit System to work with borrowers experiencing stress as a result of the current downturn in the farm economy.”

“He worked especially hard to ensure the success of the biofuels industry, as well as highlighting the healthcare and broadband needs of rural America,” said House Agriculture Committee Chairman Collin Peterson of Minnesota. “His leadership and dedication to rural communities will be greatly missed.”

The Tonsager family plans to host a funeral service in South Dakota and a memorial service in Washington.

AgWired Animal, AgWired Precision, Farm Credit

IBM Expands Global Agriculture Platform

Carrie Muehling

IBM is forging into the global agriculture industry, using predictive technology to provide solutions for farmers in various geographies.

IBM announced the global expansion of Watson Decision Platform for Agriculture, with AI technology tailored for new crops and specific regions to help feed a growing population. For the first time, IBM is providing a global agriculture solution that combines predictive technology with data from The Weather Company, an IBM Business, and IoT data to help give farmers around the world greater insights about planning, plowing, planting, spraying and harvesting.

By 2050, the world will need to feed two billion more people without an increase of arable land[1]. IBM is combining power weather data – including historical, current and forecast data and weather prediction models from The Weather Company – with crop models to help improve yield forecast accuracy, generate value, and increase both farm production and profitability.

New crop models include corn, wheat, soy, cotton, sorghum, barley, sugar cane and potato, with more coming soon. These models will now be available in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, and Brazil, as well as new markets across Europe, Africa and Australia.

AgWired Precision, Precision Agriculture, Weather